


sweet mistakes

by BirdMonster



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29436552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdMonster/pseuds/BirdMonster
Summary: Cyril wanted to make something sweet for Valentine's Day, but it turns out making sweet treats isn't as easy as his boyfriend made it look.
Relationships: Cyril/Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	sweet mistakes

Cyril always liked chocolate. It was good and a nice way to de-stress— just a little piece was enough to make a bad day brighter. So it was rather surprising when a sweet treat that always brought a smile to his face left him feeling bitter.

He was sat on his kitchen floor, scowling down at the tile with his fingers all tangled in his hair. The room was a mess, sprinkles strewn everywhere the eye could see and utensils scattered about. Between dirtied bowls and crumpled bits of foil were some rather sad looking piles of chocolate— an attempt at making little candies that resembled hearts and flowers, Cyril knew, but no one else looking at the mess could possibly have come to such a conclusion. Instead of roses, there were puddles of melted chocolate. And a lot of them.

It would have been easier to just buy some candy, sure. But the next day was Valentine’s Day and Cyril already bought presents for his boyfriend— he wanted to do something special, too. Ashe made sweets for him all the time, so Cyril thought it would be a good idea to return the favor. But clearly, the craft was much harder than it looked.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sulking in the corner. It was early morning when he started— now the only light came from the bulbs above. But it was fine, he told himself, because there should still be plenty of time before—

_Click._

Cyril’s head snapped up towards the front door of his apartment. The handle was turning and he could swear he never leapt to his feet so quickly in his life.

“I’m home Cy— oh!” As the door opened, Ashe’s words were promptly cut off with a startled gasp. If he was any less panicked, Cyril would have felt bad for jumping right in the other’s face.

“What happened to your deadline?!” he asked, wide-eyed. “I thought you were comin’ home late!”

“I— I finished it!” Ashe gave a nervous chuckle. “I’ve been having trouble with it, but I guess I just had to sleep on it. Um, is that a problem…?” 

“No—!” Realizing Ashe was still standing in the hallway, looking rather concerned, Cyril did start to feel bad. He had to think of something, so he opted for closing what little remained of their distance and wrapped his arms around the other. “I just missed ya…”

“Oh, honey…” Ashe laughed and returned the embrace, planting a quick kiss to the side of his head. “I missed you, too! Have you eaten yet? I can get dinner going—”

“No! I mean, yes…! I mean… no, can ya pick us somethin’ up? I’ll pay for it.”

“I don’t mind cooking, love. It won’t take long—”

“You can’t!”

There was a moment of quiet, save for the harsh beating of Cyril’s heart. 

“Sweetie…” Ashe started. “What’s going on?”

“Nothin’!” Cyril tightened his grip on the other. “You’ve just been workin’ real hard on your book and ya gotta rest tonight!” Ashe was quiet. And then, he started moving forwards. “No— wait, I— _Ashe_!”

“Cyril.”

“Don’t…”

But it was useless. Ashe rested gentle hands on Cyril’s shoulders and pried him off to enter the apartment. Cyril couldn’t look, face hot with embarrassment. He listened to Ashe’s footsteps instead, hearing as they traveled the few steps it took to reach the kitchen, then stopped. Every second of silence that passed made Cyril’s stomach drop lower.

“... I see.”

“I’m sorry, Ashe!” Cyril burst. He turned to face the other, then, closing the door so the neighbors wouldn’t have to hear another word of his shameful display. “I was tryin’ to make ya somethin’ but I— I messed it up ‘n I don’t know _what_ I messed up and now the kitchen’s all gross and everything’s _awful_ and I was gonna clean it all up before ya got home but now you’re here and I—”

“Hey, hey, it’s all right! Take a deep breath for me,” Ashe’s words were soft and his hands found their way back to Cyril’s shoulders. “It’s all right. What went wrong, honey?”

“Th— the…” Cyril sniffled. He bit his lip to stop it from quivering. “... It just kept melting. It didn’t do that in the video...”

“Did you temper the chocolate?”

“Did I… what…?”

“That’s what it was,” Ashe smiled. “Here, I’ll show you.” His hands slid down to Cyril’s wrists and tugged on them, but Cyril shook his head.

“N-no, it’s… I was tryin’ to make ya somethin’, not give ya more work to do…”

“I like this stuff, Cyril! And doing it with you will only make it more fun. Come on,” he squeezed Cyril’s hands, a reassuring gesture. And when Cyril glanced up, he was met with a gaze so warm the tension in his shoulders dissipated.

He let Ashe bring him to the kitchen, scowling as the mess once more entered his vision. “I’m guessing,” Ashe started, clearing some space on the counter to work. “That the video you were watching used compound chocolate. It’s easier to make things out of that because it has a higher melting point, but couverture chocolate works just fine as long as it’s in temper.”

“Oh…” Cyril grabbed what remained of the chocolate he bought and handed it to Ashe. “I didn’t know there were different kinds, I just got fancy lookin’ stuff ‘cause I thought you’d like it more.”

“Oh, sweetheart…” Ashe snaked an arm around Cyril’s waist and pecked his cheek. “You’re sweet, you know that? You can tell by the ingredients— couverture chocolate is made with cocoa butter and compound is made with vegetable fat. And there’s a few ways to temper it— I’ll teach you.”

Cyril watched carefully as Ashe worked, taking it all in. It was mesmerizing— Ashe could move and shape the chocolate like it was air. He even brought out his own molds to use along with the ones Cyril got. And Cyril had a chance to try everything out, too. It wasn’t stressful once he knew what he was doing.

By the early hours of the morning, the two of them had created an array of chocolate candies in the shape of all kinds of things, decorated with berries and caramel and heart-shaped sprinkles. At the end of it, though he was exhausted, Cyril was satisfied with everything he made. Ashe looked happy, too, and that made it all the better.

“Go get ready for bed,” Cyril said over his shoulder as he pushed their creations into the fridge. “I’ll clean all this up.”

“Nope, I’m helping.”

Cyril frowned. “I made this mess, don’t worry about it.”

“Well, I added to it. Besides…” Ashe went to Cyril and slid his arms around his middle. “I can’t sleep without you…”

Cyril blinked up at him, his face warming. “... You’re such a sap.”

“Says the man who spent his entire day trying to make me chocolate.”

“Shut up—!” Cyril pushed him lightly and Ashe laughed.

“Really, though— thank you, love. I had fun.” Ashe leaned down to press their lips together and Cyril graciously returned the gesture.

“Yeah… me too. Glad it wasn’t too much trouble for ya.”

“Not at all. Now let’s get cleaning,” Ashe started to pull away, but after a glance at the time, paused. “Oh— and Cyril?”

“Hm?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.”

Cyril smiled, the warmth in his cheeks deepening, and pulled his boyfriend down for another kiss.

“You too, Ashe.”


End file.
